NEW YORK (AP) — A defamation lawsuit that Drake introduced in opposition to Common Music Group was tossed out Thursday by a federal decide who mentioned the lyrics in Kendrick Lamar’s dis monitor “Not Like Us” have been opinion.
The feud between two of hip-hop’s largest stars erupted within the spring of 2024, with the pair buying and selling a sequence of vitriolic tracks that culminated in Lamar touchdown the “metaphorical killing blow” together with his megahit that Could, Choose Jeannette A. Vargas mentioned in her written opinion.
Whereas the monitor’s lyrics explicitly branded Drake as a pedophile, Vargas mentioned, an inexpensive listener couldn’t have concluded that “Not Like Us” was conveying goal info concerning the Canadian famous person.
“Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts about Plaintiff,” Vargas wrote.
After the choice Drake’s authorized staff mentioned in a press release: “We intend to appeal today’s ruling, and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.”
“Not Like Us” — described by Vargas as having a “catchy beat and propulsive bassline” — was considered one of 2024′s largest songs.
It received file of the yr and track of the yr on the Grammys and helped make this yr’s Tremendous Bowl halftime present essentially the most watched ever, as followers speculated on whether or not Lamar would really carry out it. (He did, however with altered lyrics.)
The monitor, which calls out Canadian-born Drake by identify, assaults him as “a colonizer” of rap tradition, along with making insinuations about his intercourse life, together with, “I hear you like ’em young” — implications that Drake rejects.
Filed in January, the lawsuit — which doesn’t identify Lamar — alleged that Common Music Group deliberately printed and promoted the monitor regardless of realizing that it contained false and defamatory allegations in opposition to Drake and advised listeners ought to resort to vigilante justice. The monitor tarnished his fame and decreased the worth of his model, the swimsuit mentioned.
UMG, the father or mother file label for each artists, denied the allegations.
“From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day,” it mentioned in a press release. “We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Within the swimsuit, Drake additionally blamed the tune for tried break-ins and the taking pictures of a safety guard at his Toronto residence.
The mansion was depicted in an aerial picture within the track’s cowl artwork, with what Vargas described as “an overlay of more than a dozen sex offender markers” — which, she mentioned, was “obviously exaggerated and doctored.”
“No reasonable person would view the Image and believe that in fact law enforcement had designated thirteen residents in Drake’s home as sex offenders,” she wrote.
Recapping “perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history,” Vargas famous that previous to “Not Like Us,” Drake mocked Lamar’s top and shoe dimension and questioned his success in an April 2024 monitor known as “Push Ups,” whereas Lamar insulted Drake’s vogue sense that very same month in “Euphoria.”
From there, Vargas wrote, the insults escalated, changing into “vicious, personal.”
The decide mentioned she thought-about the discussion board wherein the insults occurred and concluded that the common listener doesn’t assume a dis monitor “is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public factchecked verifiable content.”
Vargas wrote that “Not Like Us” was “replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion.”
An affordable listener, she added, “would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.”
Dalton reported from Los Angeles. Related Press author Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed.
